Monday, July 4, 2011

Inspiration - Alfred Hitchcock

I am a film buff! I grew up watching "old" movies on television. Several of my favorites were directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It wasn't until I took a film course in college (and we watched North by Northwest six times) that I began to appreciate why his films are so captivating. To name just a few: the unusual camera work and editing (think shower scene in Psycho), stories about everyday people in everyday places, mistaken identity, psychology, great pairings of male and female characters and actors, the use of music and graphic design...I could go on.

To this day, if there is "nothing to watch" on the 150+ channels I have on cable and I notice a Hitchcock movie (even North by Northwest!) as I am scrolling through complaining that "there is nothing" to watch, I will watch it again. I will wait for the director's cameo appearance. I will say the famous lines along with the actors and I will notice new things in the "film" (so much more accurate when talking about Hitchcock!).

Sometimes when I am looking for a name for one of my new pieces of jewelry, usually a necklace, Hitchcock's films come to mind. I think of adjectives I'd use to describe the finished necklace like dramatic, elegant, unpredictable, unusual, classic etc and then the name of one his films "pops" into my head. Oh well...even if my potential customers don't "get" the reference, it's one way of paying homage to the "master."

the famous profile and my Notorious and Vertigo Necklaces

PS Did you know that Notorious (1946) is famous for a scene in which Hitchcock got around the film censors' rule that kisses could not last longer than three seconds with some clever editing? The kiss between Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman became as "notorious" as the film's title.